Iman Fandi is the face that tops off our #BareWithMe stories with WearOhWhere.

“Better an “oops” than a “what if”.”
– Iman Fandi, Model

Credit: WearOhWhere

For those who don’t know, #BareWithMe is a campaign we kicked off with Lucinda Law (Founder of WithinArtNature) and WOW back in 2017 — a spinoff from #FoundationFreeConfidence. Porcelain has always told the story of good skin from within and preached the benefits that going foundation-free would do for it. Natural beauty on the outside. How about on the inside? We thought, there lies so many parallels between physical and inner beauty, skincare journeys and personal ones. How do we inspire confidence not just on a surface level, but from within?

We reached out to old friend Karman,

the maker of WearOhWhere, storyteller of people’s — well, stories. There was no one better to help us capture the essence of people — inspirational women, to be exact. And to capture their experiences, triumphs, flaws, journeys and definitions of beauty. It was no longer just about physical beauty; we wanted to go beyond skin-deep. And when said influential women bared to us how they were (are) equally fallible human beings, we all hoped to spur others to similarly bare their own stories. Owning them. Finding strength in them. (Re)gaining confidence both outside and within.

Credit: WearOhWhere

Just like that, Bare with Me was born.

It’s now 2019. Bare With Me came further and lasted longer than we expected, together with Viola Tan, Co-Founder of Love, Bonito and Olivia Eleazar, photographer, stylist and self-proclaimed unicorn. We began planning a capstone story to top off the series and to kickstart the year. This story would take the form of a video, showcasing a woman stripping off her makeup after a day with the world. Symbolism of emancipation.

In all honesty, when we first started talking about this, I had in my mind a 40-something-year-old woman who had reached enlightenment, or something close to it. Someone who had seen much in life. Probably glamorous and strong on the outside, fun and strong on the inside (yes, “glamorous” and “fun” are antonyms in my head). The video would take on a darker, more somber look and feel. Adult.

What we ended up producing was this:

I got it completely wrong and the production team got it completely right. Well, I got one part right — Iman is a girl who’s glamorous and strong on the outside (as a model), and fun and strong on the inside (as herself).

“To anyone out there who doesn’t feel beautiful, I want to tell you that it’s OK not to be OK, and we all go through phases where we just shut down, but in the end, everything will be all right — it just takes time. It took time for me to understand what I like about myself, and how I can improve myself. With body image, I go to the gym and eat healthy, so that’s how I try and basically take care of me. You just have to figure out what is your way.”
– Iman Fandi, Model

We wanted to portray a typical day in her life as a model by day, Iman by night. The idea was to showcase a woman who displays to the world her game face and who then slowly relinquishes that persona to become… her. And as we went from shooting scenes to interview time, Iman literally morphed from professional model to bare-faced girl with candour and ease. And as we uncovered her story, we found someone who was precocious, wise beyond her years and brimming with positivity for the future.

A few months ago, we wrote about nostalgia. Then, we’d said that just by looking at the many changes Porcelain had been through, it felt like nothing is ever taken for granted here. Fast forward five months and we’re looking at Porcelain’s latest baby, Porcelain Origins — otherwise known as Singapore’s first smart spa. Do things ever stop moving?

Nope.

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Last week, we threw a party like we do it every day. It’s not every day, though, that a smart spa is launched. Suddenly, the pride factor in working for one of Singapore’s boutique cult spa brands shot to the stratosphere. “Hi, I’m Kelly. I do XYZ at Porcelain, Singapore’s first smart spa.” I sound 1000x cooler, already.

“But really, the real kicker here is the boutique spa’s seamless utilisation of digital technology to give you a no BS, super functional luxury experience.”

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How About A Tour Around Singapore’s First Smart Spa?

Product Discovery Bar

What we’ve gathered from years of experience (of being human) is… most of us don’t have much love for hovering salespeople. That wasn’t really the most crucial reason we spent so much time visualizing this bar into reality, but it’s an important one.

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Welcome to our official product playground. The product discovery bar’s camera intuitively senses your presence, greets you, then helps you explore Porcelain’s products in a pretty fun way. Pick up any one of the four products in the center of the bar — they each stand for different common skin concerns. You’ll soon find yourself being told (by our smart screen, no less) to pick up the products that are relevant for that particular skin woe… in sequence. Done? That’s your skincare regime right there.

Digital Consultation Rooms

Here, get ready for a paperless consultation and a fun (but not fun-sized) interactive tabletop screen that meets and greets you. Watch as our consultant plays with a tablet (cleverly paired with said screen) and takes you through your skin concerns, treatment recommendations and plans.

Your first reaction might be to touch it just to see if it’s — well, a touchscreen. And you can! And it is! Find out more about different treatments and products this way. Though we weren’t too sure if our guests were really reading or just enjoying the animations…

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Powder Room: Even Mirrors’ IQs Have ↑ Its Game

A typical spa visit ends with a cup of tea to wind down and wrap up the visit. You leave feeling great and head out anticipating a greater day ahead. But naturally, Murphy’s Law strikes, right? You exit the mall with glowing skin in a good mood — only to hear thunder… rolling, angry thunder.

But what if a mirror in a spa could tell you thatmain ? Ingenious.

That said, it does much more than just that. We are such fans of greeting our guests that even our mirrors do it too — apart from the two screens that you’d already read about. So functional are our mirrors, they even tell you precisely how to care for your skin post-thetreatmentyoujustdid. They also send a compliment your way for a confidence boost. It’s so polite, it even asks you to choose your preferred tea flavor while you’re getting ready for the world.

All you need to do to activate this super personalized butler is scan the little QR code in the corner using our Porcelain app.

A Smart Spa Can’t Do Without An App, Can It?

The aforementioned app is another digital baby we recently launched. The third iteration of our Porcelain app reveals a major visual and functional overhaul in a user-friendly way.

Because we tried really hard to be contactable (we had Facebook, Instagram, Whatsapp, calls, emails and a live chat as possible platforms to reach us), we might have killed ourselves and clients a little. To make things much easier, this 3rd-generation Porcelain app offers a pocket-friendly way to:

Singapore’s First Smart Spa Is Super Plush

In the main room: Velvet, marble tiles, swathes of bold jewel colours and splashes of gold. Large window mirrors line a wall and an impressive marble-top table occupies the front bit of the café lounge-cum-waiting area.

Inside: What looks like an unassuming space hides a maze of 3 consultation rooms, 14 treatment rooms and leads to a dimly LED-lit hallway. We’ve lovingly dubbed this TheTransition Zone because the stark contrast to the vibrancy outside helps acclimatize you to a mental state of relaxation.

The entire spa’s design takes inspiration from our shophouse beginnings and the delicate balance between nature and technology.

Shophouse elements pepper the store, such as traditional window arches and a main entrance that simulates a shophouse’s own. These are contrasted with a liberal use of marble, velvet and gold accents to lend a modern, luxurious touch to the more conventional features. Behind this design inspiration lies Porcelain’s deep roots in our Singaporean heritage, with a sight on growth beyond just the little red dot, beyond skincare.

Then, mood lights cast rippling pools of “water” and all treatment rooms feature murals of air, sea and land that climb up the side walls to the ceilings. Contrast these with the modern, futuristic touches in the Transition Zone, where LED laser lights create dramatic plays of light that cut across the ceilings, walls and floors.

But Origins is really the farthest thing from pretentious.

We apologize if this post came off a tad over-the-top and vain — but we are pretty pleased this yearS-long project has finally materialized — in Paragon, no less! Excuse us while we pop another bottle of champagne (yes, it’s only Thursday).

When asked what attributes to ageing skin, most would easily throw out answers like a “lack of collagen”. But there’s so much more to that than just collagen and elastin. Bone loss occurs, changing your basic bone structure; constant facial movements and expressions result in wrinkles not just in the skin, but in the muscles themselves! Facial ageing and muscles? They’re definitely a very real thing.

Anyone beyond 40 is no stranger to seeing a different face in the mirror over time. First, there was a slight loss of firmness in the skin… then some fine lines around the eyes and mouth… deeper lines … wrinkles… holy cow, is my jaw sagging now?

Credit: http://freestocks.org

Atrophy, not a trophy

Atrophy is a far cry from its similar-sounding brother… what’s atrophy, really? Simply put, it’s the decrease in muscle mass (wasting away of the muscles, if you will), and this happens in the face as well — resulting in (possibly early) facial ageing.

When we were young…

We had strong bones, toned muscles, and beautiful cheeks. These were thanks to the connective tissues under the skin—tissues that contain tons of collagen fibres (for support) and elastic fibres (for strength and facial flexibility).

As we age, these fibres shrink and deteriorate, along with our muscles, bones, and nerves. They lose mass (or volume), strength and elasticity. This is atrophy, and while the biggest changes appear in our 40s or 50s, they usually begin in the mid-thirties and carry on till we’re older.

And as this happens, our skin starts losing its legendary collagen and firmness. Together with the changes that our bones along our jaws, cheeks and brows go through, we begin noticing sags in our facial features (and self-confidence).

Lifestyle behaviours like smoking, alcohol can also influence muscle atrophy. Even excess sun exposure can result in fibres that can no longer ‘recover’ or ‘bounce back into place with resiliency’, and thus sag.

But guess what? Exercise helps!

Muscles & facial ageing? Kill it with exercise

Credit: Matheus Ferrero

As we said, most focus on “the loss of collagen” and search for treatments that help stimulate collagen growth to help firm skin. Which is great! Why not boost it for longer-lasting, more effective results with some targeted treatments for the facial muscles as well?

Porcelain’s Cryotherapy Intensive (or more recently renamed Arctic ToneTM) is an award-winning treatment that helps people with anti-ageing concerns.

And here, let’s go technical.

Arctic ToneTM: Features for reversing time

Low-Frequency Current

This super-lifting treatment stimulates facial muscles with a patented 4Hz low-frequency current. It sounds terribly painful, but it is not! What the current does is to tone and stimulate the skin’s muscle fibres comfortably — energizing and elevating the facial muscles. The result is a smoother, firmer and more youthful-looking complexion. What you just did there? A good, intensive workout for your facial muscles.

Deeper Stamp Depths

Your skin absorbs products even more intensively now not just with Iontophoresis… Arctic Tone also features deeper Cryostamp depths (from 0.25mm to 0.5mm) for more even more targeted results like pore/scars reduction and skin brightening. Deeper stamp depths* simply mean ingredients penetrate the skin more intensively, plus they address deeper scars as they can stimulate tissue repair further down.

It’s pretty simple and no rocket science:

Low Frequency + Lower Temperatures = Firmer, Toned Skin

Iontophoresis + Deeper Stamp Depths = Brighter, More Nourished Skin

*Note: A higher stamp depth may require longer downtime and may not be suitable for sensitive skin.

Arctic ToneTM: Benefits

Credit: Taylor Boggs

Had enough of science lessons? Us, too.

To cut the long story short, the treatment does do what you know will help with facial ageing:

Arctic ToneTMwill stimulate collagen and elastin production. But it does more than just that. It also stimulates facial muscles, thus toning them. We like to call it exercise for the face.

It’s so cliched to kickstart something new whenever January and the New Year roll around. This time, we’re reinventing the wheel (okay, exaggerating here). This December, we’re kickstarting 2019 with a brand-new series with WearOhWhere.com — the Origins series. In this series, we uncover people’s stories once more, focusing on their heritage, roots and then their futures. We explore how they look back on their pasts, how they use their histories to inspire their todays and tomorrows, how their origins define who they are and will be.

Credit: WearOhWhere

Here’s Origins defined — the Porcelain way:

Origin{or·i·gin} /noun/
The point at which something begins its existence

[1] The inception of fresh concepts that push traditional boundaries and create paradigm shifts in beauty and skincare. The birthplace of the trends of tomorrow.

[2] Also a celebration of You – you who came, loved and stayed

These remain the inspiration behind our latest collaboration with WOW. Soon, we’ll be unearthing three ladies’ versions of their backgrounds and how they play an integral part in influencing their futures.

Last week, we launched the new Origins series with Kelly Latimer — TV host, vocal talent, fitness enthusiast, mother of a very beautiful Sienna… but my personal favourite? SAF-enlister.

Credit: WearOhWhere

Here’s Kelly defined — the Latimer way:

On being British:

“I like tea. I think my frankness is quite British. I’m quite straight to the point and quite curt… if you asked me for my opinion, I will give you my opinion. Everyone says what they think there whether you like it or not, whether you can take it or not. If you are willing to dish it, you’re going to have to be willing to take it as well.”

On being Singaporean:

“I like to feed people! I inherited my mother’s Asian hospitality. If you come to my house, you’ll never be hungry.”

No matter what age you are, hydration remains the essential solid foundation for great skin – making this set of three essential hydrators an absolute prize. The deal clincher – it also comes with a complimentary limited-edition pouch.

WHAT’S INSIDE:

PERFECT FOR PEOPLE WHO:

– Have skin so dehydrated, they think it’s oily
– Have legit, dry skin
– Frequently complain they can never find a good aloe gel that’s made up of 99% stabilized Aloe Vera
– Have pimples and who can’t find a good spot treatment that also hydrates while zapping zits and that also balances sebum and that also feels featherlight on skin and that also…
– Want a moisturizer that hydrates while providing bursts of antioxidants for brightening and protection from free radicals
– Love natural ingredients like aloe vera, peach, mountain pepper, peony, lemon verbena, tea tree oil…
– Are men who need that extra bit of TLC post-shave
– Are all of the above

Also the definitive SOS kit for acne-afflicted complexions, this bundle contains what Porcelain fans consider as the go-to stars when hormones go haywire, and acne rears its many ugly heads. Ridding skin of p.acnes bacteria and excess sebum while keeping hydration levels up is key.

WHAT’S INSIDE:

PERFECT FOR PEOPLE WHO:

– Zit-prone people
– Have combination-oily skin, including and especially men who are more prone to these skin types
– Are in need of controlling excess shine
– Need a gentle, exfoliating toner that contains mild AHAs, and that hydrates while providing bursts of antioxidants for brightening and protection from free radicals
– Love natural ingredients like aloe vera, coconut, sage, cucumber, tea tree oil, soybean extracts…
– Who are men, especially the ones who believe that they deserve good skin too

WHAT’S INSIDE:

PERFECT FOR PEOPLE WHO:

– Party a lot
– Are very busy
– Have skin so dehydrated, they think it’s oily
– Have legit, dry skin
– Frequently complain they can never find a good face mask that adheres well to their faces
– Suffer from tired, lined eyes
– Love value for money and serums in equal parts: this mask comes with 30ml of serum which you can squeeze into a 5ml dropper bottle we include with every set!
– Live for multiple-functional gadgets: The Natural Skin Refiner acts as an exfoliator-cum-mask
– Want a mask that hydrates while providing bursts of antioxidants for brightening and protection from free radicals
– Are women, especially mothers, grandmothers, wives and daughters — show them it’s okay to take a break!
– Are men, especially the ones who believe that they deserve good skin too

$99 (U.P. $198)

* Buy any 2 sets with a total value of over $200 and get 1x Porcelain pouch + 1x tin of Porcelain Aurelie tea. The Triple Moisture Kit automatically comes with one of both.